An Ideal Life
by fsnfan
Summary: One-shot. An AU spinoff of Hero Slayer's Mahou Senki Lyrical Days.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a one-shot that I originally posted in Beast Lair. I decided to share it here. Hope you guys like it. BTW this Shirou never had the Jewel Seed imbedded in him like Hero Slayer's original fic.

* * *

How did this happen?

Was it because they had left him behind?

They didn't have a choice!

His Magecraft to replicate bladed weapons were much too inferior to Mid-Childan and Belkan magic. They couldn't bring him with them because their missions were much too dangerous for someone who was classified as an E-Rank mage due to lack of talent and his Mana (or Od as Earth Magi called it) reserves was so small that it could be depleted in a matter of minutes in some of the battles they had fought.

Thus, it was inevitable that after the incident with the Book of Darkness, they became more distant as their work with the TSAB took up most of their time and they didn't have the time to visit him more regularly. It was made harder because he had decided to move to Fuyuki instead of staying at Uminari where most of their friends and family were at after Kiritsugu had passed away shortly after the incident.

They didn't even know that it was the Wolkenritter's actions that resulted in the death of Emiya Kiritsugu weeks before he was supposed to actually die until months later when they finally had time to pay a proper visit.

Vita was horrified once she knew since she was the one who attacked Kiritsugu to absorb his Linker Core into the Book. It was made worse because he never blamed her for his adoptive father's end. Kiritsugu had died a peaceful death after entrusting his dreams and ideals to his adopted son.

As atonement, Vita had searched frantically for anything that could make up for what she did. That's when they discovered the existence of Kiritsugu's biological daughter from one of his old journals.

Illyasviel von Einzbern.

They had stormed the Einzbern castle to free her once they learned of her imprisonment. Their raid was successful as Illya was rescued and she was brought to Mid-Childa to recuperate. The specialists there were confident that they could restore decades of the stolen time the Einzberns had taken from her due to the excessive Mana enhancing experiments on her body.

All of them had deemed that it was happy ending.

How wrong they were.

Even when they raided the castle, they never brought him with them. He would only just slow them down. Perhaps this kind of thinking was their first mistake.

Also, after Illya was healed, she had also joined the TSAB along with them. Even without the enhancements from the Einzbern experiments, she was still classified as an AAA-Rank mage if they looked at her Mana reserves alone. It even surpassed her's by a wide margin.

And so, he was left all alone again.

Their next paths crossed only years later when they were made to sortie after a sudden huge spike in Mana activity in Fuyuki was detected from sheer coincidence. The possibility of a Lost Logia going berserk had whipped them into shape to respond immediately.

However, they had arrived too late.

By the time they arrived at the top of the mountain where the concentration of Mana was reported to congregate, the only thing they found was the utter destruction of the temple residing on the mountain and its surroundings and the lonely back of a young man they once knew facing the sunrise. A sad smile was on his face as if he had to say farewell to someone he deeply cared about.

Some of them had sworn that they had seen the silhouette of a petite blond girl in a blue dress and armor with a sword in hand in front of him just before the transfer had finished.

The resulting interrogation lasted about a week and was supplemented with Illya's knowledge of the Holy Grail War.

To this day, none of them could believe how he could've survived such a brutal ritual almost completely unscathed.

Despite everything, they never elevated his status in their minds and decided to just classify his survival as pure dumb luck.

Another mistake that they would regret.

Afterwards, he joined the TSAB after he graduated from high school.

It was only after he moved to Mid-Childa did they start to bond again but the gap formed from years apart from each other was hard to fill. They never understood his desire to save people and laughed at his dream to be a hero.

After about half a year, he had decided to resign from the TSAB saying that he could save more people if he wasn't restricted by ranks or politics. Those who knew of his mage rank only laughed at him saying that he was just running away because he was too weak to even get promoted.

Even she and her friends had told him to give up his dreams and just live peacefully.

In the following years after he became a Freelancer, news of his exploits started appearing. He had been jumping from one conflict to another and fighting against various militias along the way to save as many people as he could.

Those who he had saved deemed him a hero.

The governments of various worlds and the TSAB itself however had designated him as a war criminal. The former for meddling in their military affairs while the latter couldn't condone his blatant disregard for world borders.

In the end, Riot Force 6 was tasked with subjugating him. The excuse given was that there were reports of him using unknown weaponry that might be Lost Logias. As such, Riot Force 6 that was specialized in dealing with Lost Logias was sent out.

The resulting conflict was brief as he never even tried to put up a fight against them in memory of his friendship with her and everyone else. He was imprisoned in a holding cell where the unit was based at.

Their achievement was short lived however as only a week later, their base was attacked by the Numbers.

The next few events were something that she heard later instead of seeing it with her own eyes.

At this time, he was able to break out of his holding cell by literally cutting it apart with an unidentified golden blade.

His captors had thought that he would try to escape but to their surprise, he had instead led the remaining members of the unit against the Numbers and thwarting their plans to recapture Vivio.

In retaliation, Jail Scaglietti sent an army of Combat Cyborgs to reclaim Vivio.

The members of Riot Force 6 despaired at the sheer number of enemies that they were going to battle against. Some were even convinced that they should just surrender Vivio to Scaglietti.

Those people were dealt with by a quick blunt force trauma to the head.

After giving a few orders to the unit to position themselves at a few key locations, he had then asked a favor to Ginga Nakajima, who was then tasked to see to his incarceration thus her presence at the base, to perform what he termed as a 'Tantric Prana Ritual'.

Ginga had agreed after a few yells and punches to the gut.

As the army of Combat Cyborgs approached, he alone went out to meet them. The remaining members of Riot Force 6 thought that he was going to commit suicide right up until the army itself disappeared right before their eyes.

They were awakened from their confusion at Ginga's orders, who had taken over command of the unit, to incapacitate the remaining stragglers.

After about half an hour had passed, they finally arrived to reinforce their unit. It was about that time that a spatial distortion could be witnessed as the army of Combat Cyborgs returned.

But no sense of alarm gripped them. It was instead filled with awe.

The army was decimated as various bladed weapons from small daggers to giant axes had impaled, cleaved, stabbed or dismembered them.

In the middle of the battlefield, on a hill of swords, he stood alone while several weapons had lodged themselves in his body.

"SHIROU!" She had yelled before she even knew it.

She immediately flew to his side, praying that she would still make it as she contacted Shamal. However, she was too late. By the time she arrived, life had already left his body.

"No... no, this can't be..." She could only watch in horror as the body of her childhood friend stood lifeless before her. She didn't even notice Fate landing beside her.

"Why? Why did you..." She couldn't understand it. Why had he sacrificed his life to protect them? They were enemies. The TSAB had branded him as a war criminal. He should be hating them for such a thing even after he tried his best to save as many people as he could.

Instead, he refused to fight them when they came for him even though he knew that he would be imprisoned for it. He never gave them any hostile looks or glares when they interrogated him. He never blamed them for looking down on him which what led to this in the first place.

As she thought all this, she finally laid her sight on his face and her mind abruptly stopped.

It wasn't the face of someone in pain, despair or even desperation when facing an army. Instead he had a very peaceful smile as if he was very happy. She remembered that smile that she was used to seeing in her childhood.

It was the smile that he always wore when he was helping someone.

"Ahhh... AHHHHH!" She cried.

It never mattered that they looked down on him. It never mattered that no one believed in him. It never mattered that no one understood him.

All that mattered to him was that he believed in his ideals and stood by it.

And all of them had laughed at his dream and ridiculed it.

 _"Listen up. From now on, you will be my friend."_

A memory from their early days together.

A promise that she forced onto him due to her own selfishness.

In the end, the one who kept that promise wasn't her but the person she forced it on.


	2. Shirou's Memories (Part 1)

A/N: Someone once asked me to expand on this story a bit more so I'm going to give it a try. Enjoy. Oh, and please review.

* * *

*** An Ideal Life - Shirou's Memories (Part 1) ***

 _"Listen up. From now on. You will be my friend."_

They say that a person's life flashes before their eyes at the moment of their death.

He wondered if that was the reason he was remembering the day he and Nanoha had become friends, albeit it was a bit forceful. He didn't lament it though. He was proud to have been friends with the White Devil during their childhood. His only regret was that he was never able to lend her his strength. He was much too weak for that.

Was that the reason that they drifted apart as they grew up?

What had started it all?

Was it during the Jewel Seed incident when he was put in a hospital after confronting Fate thinking that he could help Nanoha?

* * *

 _The day had gone quite normally as usual other than the fact that he was made to wear a butler outfit and became the trio's manservant for their tea party. That is, until another Jewel Seed had revealed itself during the get-together which forced him and Nanoha to bail on Arisa and Suzuka._

 _Due to the difference in how they traveled (Nanoha could fly and he was stuck running on the ground), he was late in arriving at the scene. When he did however, what he saw was another girl about their age with blonde twin-tailed hair who had Nanoha at scythe point._

 _He didn't stop to think what had happened or even hesitated with his next actions. Reinforcing the broom he brought with him, just in case he needed an impromptu weapon, he charged at the blonde girl. Since he didn't release any yells or unnecessary sounds, he was almost able to catch her off guard._

 _Almost._

 _She had retracted her scythe from Nanoha at the last second to block his strike. By the startled look she gave him, it seems that she was surprised but it only lasted for a moment. Her expression turned to calm and cool as she started to assess him. She didn't even look panicked at him overpowering her with his Reinforced strength as their weapons locked._

 _"Shirou! Look out!"_

 _It was Nanoha's shout that alerted him to the various yellow arrows that suddenly appeared in the air around them and was aiming directly at him but by then it was already too late. The blonde girl had finished her preparations. Yellow chains had bound him in place where he was standing and he couldn't find the strength to break free._

 _"STOOOOP!"_

 _The last thing he heard before he fell unconscious was Nanoha's pleas as the yellow arrows pierced his body and filled him with pain as he was electrocuted._

* * *

Or was it when he had almost all the bones in his body pulverized by Vita when he saw Nanoha bleeding for the first time and charged straight at the one who had hurt her?

* * *

 _It had been a while since the last time he 'smelled' a barrier being constructed in Uminari. The barrier was different than the one Yuuno usually made when he was with them those few months ago. For starters, it was cruder than Yuuno's and used up much more prana if what he sensed with his olfactory was right. Another reason was that Yuuno's barrier was harder to be detected by human magical senses but he could even sense this barrier being set up from a mile away._

 _It was clear that whoever made the barrier was inferior in skill compared to Yuuno._

 _That or it was bait for a trap._

 _Whichever it was, he couldn't just ignore it. The place the barrier was constructed was around Nanoha's home. Considering what happened a few months ago, it's possible that someone might be targeting her simply because she was a mage. That possibility made him force his short legs to run faster while praying in his heart that his friend was alright._

 _Unfortunately, his prayer wasn't answered._

 _The moment he entered the barrier, he could tell that Nanoha was in danger if the pink light in the sky that was fighting a red light was any indication. Reinforcing his eyes, he confirmed that the pink light really was Nanoha while the red light was a chibi in a red dress and hat wielding something that looked like a large hammer._

 _Since they were fighting in the sky, he couldn't do anything on the ground. He didn't have any way to reach them. His only weapon was the shinai he had brought with him but in this situation, it was completely useless._

 _Just when he was trying to figure out what to do, events had escalated beyond his control._

 _Nanoha was brutally slammed by the giant hammer the mage was wielding into the ground floor of one of the buildings nearby._

 _"NANOHA!"_

 _Not wasting any time, he went straight where he saw Nanoha had crashed. Both mages were high up in the sky but the force from the hammer wielding mage was strong enough to force Nanoha to crash to the ground in such a violent manner even after taking into account her shield and Barrier Jacket. He feared the worst._

 _Arriving at the scene, he saw his friend's injured body in a small crater._

 _Ignoring the shards of glass that were strewn about, he immediately approached her. After a preliminary check, he let out a small sigh of relief. Although unconscious and injured, it seemed that her life wasn't in immediate danger. She didn't seem to have any difficulty in breathing so none of her ribs were broken. Unfortunately, that was all he could tell.  
_

 _He didn't have a lot of medical knowledge so even if she had a concussion or some kind of internal injury that wasn't visible on the surface, it was impossible for him to tell. He needed to send her to a hospital ASAP._

 _At that moment however, the hammer wielding mage had touched down a few meters from where they were._

 _"There was someone else here? What a bother."_

 _Bother?_

 _Rage welled up in his heart at the girl's words._

 _She had injured one of his best friends and all she could think was that it was a bother to have him here?_

 _Unforgivable._

 _Despite his anger however, he knew that getting Nanoha to safety was top priority instead of fighting. Unfortunately, he knew quite well that the mage wouldn't let them go just like that and there was no way for him to escape her while carrying Nanoha. It might still be possible if Raising Heart supported him but the Intelligent Device, that was still in Nanoha's hand in it's staff form, had cracks on many places and didn't seem to be responding to anything._

 _The option to talk or negotiate were already thrown out the window since Nanoha would've tried that already._ _His only remaining choice was to drive away the mage before things became much worse._

 _"_ _Well since you're here, that means you're also a mage. I'll harvest your Linker Core too."  
_

 _"Trace On!" He ignored the enemy's monologue and chanted his Aria._

 _Reinforcing his body and the shinai he had to the limit, he charged at the mage._

 _Three moves. That was all it took for him to be beaten down._

 _In the first move, the mage had blocked his strike._

 _In the second move, she had parried his following strike with such force that his body was blown back._

 _In the third move, she mercilessly slammed the hammer into his right side before he could recover from being blown back._

 _His body crashed into a wall. He coughed up blood. His right arm and ribs were broken by the hammer and crashing into the wall further broke more of his bones._

 _"Man, you're weak. Huh? What the-? Didn't you have a Barrier Jacket? D-Damn it! Shamal, come here quick!"_

 _Surprisingly, the enemy seemed to be worried for him despite his initial assessment of her being cold-blooded. As his consciousness faded, he idly recognized a familiar blonde haired girl coming their way with one of his eyes that wasn't blinded by the blood flowing from his head._

* * *

It didn't matter what he did during those times. He was too weak to change or even influence any of the events that had kept escalating. Everything had ended fine in the end but he didn't contribute to any of it. He was just a burden. Even so, he never gave up. Once he found out what he was doing wrong with his magecraft, what his Element was and what it could do, he had proceeded to train his _actual_ Magic Circuits and polished his Projection as much as he could.

It was not enough.

The skills that existed within the kodachis he had seen at the Takamachi household was the most formidable of all the blades he had seen at that point in time but his body was much too underdeveloped to unleash their true capabilities. Training only in his magecraft would not allow him to reach his desired results so he also started to rigorously train his body as well as his swordsmanship with Kyouya's help.

Unfortunately, that time had ended when Kiritsugu decided to move back to Fuyuki. He didn't know it back then but Nanoha's adventures seemed to have made Kiritsugu to resolve to face his own dark past instead of running away from it.

Their move had forced him to continue with his training by himself. He had decided to take up archery after the incident with Vita. He learned from the experience that he needed a way to reach an airborne opponent when he was on the ground. He had set up a simple training field in his new home's courtyard which was quite large since there was no archery club in the elementary school he was enrolled in.

Life went on as usual.

Kiritsugu would leave for a trip somewhere one final time before finally settling down. Kiritsugu would sometime visit the graveyard near Ryuudou Temple but since he was never brought along, he didn't know who's grave it was that Kiritsugu kept visiting. The only reason that he knew Kiritsugu even went to the graveyard was because he bumped into him there when helping a new friend he made, who was a resident of the temple, to sweep the temple grounds.

A few months later, Kiritsugu passed away.

* * *

 _Kiritsugu's health had been getting worse these past few weeks.  
_

 _He would sometimes experience extreme pain in some part of his body and fall down._

 _His eyesight was getting worse and now he could barely see at all._

 _There were also days when he would be bed ridden from a high fever._

 _Seeing his father figure's suffering, he knew that their time together was coming to an end._

 _He had urged Kiritsugu to go to the hospital but Kiritsugu's reply that normal doctors couldn't help made him realize that the cause was supernatural. When he next suggested getting the help of Captain Lindy, he was shocked to find that they had already examined his condition but it was still futile._

 _No one was able to figure out what was wrong with his body. Not even the various spiritual doctors that Kiritsugu had visited during his trips could help him._

 _It was hopeless._

 _Even so, Kiritsugu seemed to be at peace. It was like he had already come to terms with whatever it was that was haunting him all his life. When his body was strong enough to manage it, Kiritsugu would sit on the veranda at night and gaze at the moon. He would always make sure to accompany Kiritsugu during those times. It was the only thing left he could do for his foster father._

 _It was during one of those nights that it happened._

 _"… When I was a kid, I used to want to be a hero of justice very much."_

 _He frowned at that sentence._

 _"What? You're saying you used to want to, then have you given up now?"_

 _A sad smile formed on Kirtsugu's face._

 _"Hmm, it is rather regrettable. Heroes have a time limit too, and it's hard to fulfill once you become an adult. It would have been better if I realized that earlier."_

 _He knew that there was something wrong with that logic but since it was Kiritsugu who had said it, he decided that it must be true. Thus, he made a decision._

 _"Really? Then there's really nothing you can do."_

 _"True. I'm really powerless." Kiritsugu had that resigned expression that he was used to seeing when coming back from his trips.  
_

 _"Hmm. If you can't fulfill it anymore, then let me fulfill it for you." He decided to inherit the dream of the person he admired._

 _"Dad is an adult already, so maybe you can't do anything anymore. But I'm alright. So entrust it to me, entrust Dad's dream. Nanoha already has a head start but someday, I'll definitely catch up to her."_

 _There was at first surprise in Kiritsugu's expression but then it was replaced by relief._

 _"Yes. Ahh – then I'll be at peace now."_

 _At that night, the man known as Emiya Kiritsugu, the Magus Killer, passed away in peace after entrusting all his hopes and dreams to a child he considered his only son._

* * *

After that night, he did everything he could to improve himself. Before this, an ally of justice was only an object of admiration for him. Now, it was his ultimate goal.

He contacted Crono for a detailed training regimen given to TSAB mages. Although their way of using magic/magecraft was different, there was still some of their training regimen that he could use. Especially the way to maintain a good physical condition.

They were all still humans after all. Inter-dimensional/Intergalactic (?) humans aside.

Day by day, he would continue to train both his body and his magecraft. He never missed a single day of it if he could help it.

An older girl called Fujimura Taiga, the granddaughter of Fujimura Raiga who was now his legal guardian, would sometimes come to check up on him. This started even before Kiritsugu passed away. She was... a bit of an annoyance, to be honest.

Childish.

Eccentric.

Unpredictable.

Energetic.

Tomboy.

Those were some of the traits of the middle-school girl to name a few. Despite being older than him, she was so immature that she could give kindergartners a run for their money. Every time she visited, she would mooch off food from him and she would throw a tantrum if he refused. He swore, there wasn't even one feminine bone inside this girl.

Even Arisa during kindergarten wasn't this bad and that's saying a lot if the way Nanoha and Suzuka had described her back then was any indication.

Still, a part of him was grateful for her presence. He never felt alone thanks to her, even if he ended up always having to take care of her instead of the other way around. Also, she was a good kendo partner though Kyouya was still better.

About a month after Kiritsugu passed away, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno and the Wolkenritter along with their mistress came to visit.

* * *

 _How did he end up in this situation?_

 _It's been a while since the last time he saw his friends so he was quite happy to have them. Everything started smoothly as he prepared lunch and some Japanese snacks for his guests._

 _Until typhoon Fujimura arrived._

 _He wasn't exactly sure what happened. When Baka-Taiga had arrived, she was yelling something about food as usual and the next thing he knew he was being glomped by her while she was rambling about 'her Shirou being deceived by beautiful women and a trap'._

 _She was probably referring to all the girls while poor Yuuno was being treated as a trap character from those shoujo manga she reads and dumps in his home. He did admit that Yuuno had some feminine features but come on. He wasn't_ that _feminine._

 _Once everyone went home, he decided to burn those shoujo mangas. Enough was enough._

 _First she intrudes on his home unannounced and now she starts to insult his precious friends. If he doesn't reel her in, who would?_

 _"Taiga." His voice was cold and devoid of any emotion. He could feel her body went completely still since she hadn't released him yet. It seemed that she could tell that he was angry. Good._

 _Extracting himself from her, he gave her the coldest look he could manage._

 _"These are my friends from Uminari. They've traveled far to visit me and are quite tired. They don't need your pestering. Leave."_

 _"B-but..."_

 _"I won't repeat myself."_

 _"...Excuse me." Perhaps she realized that none of her usual tantrums and childish antics were going to work this time so she left obediently while in a gloomy mood._

 _The cold atmosphere remained for a while after the child-in-an-adult's-skin had left and everyone was silent._

 _Unexpectedly, it was Fate who broke the ice._

 _"Shirou." Her face was a bit red. Whether from anger or embarrassment from Baka-Taiga's harassment, he didn't know._

 _"Yes, Fate?" He answered casually. He wasn't really in a bad mood. He just wanted Taiga out of the way at the moment. After all, their conversation might include TSAB matters._

 _"Are you and that girl going out?"_

 _He did a spit take. He couldn't help it._

 _"WHAT!? Whatever gave you that idea?"_

 _He and Baka-Taiga going out? Please God, no. Just thinking about it made him nauseous. He'd rather go out with Vita than her and Vita almost sent him six-feet-under the first time they met so that's saying something._

 _"W-well, she kept saying that you were her's." Fate looked quite timid as her face got redder._

 _...He'll never cook for Baka-Taiga again for the next month._

* * *

Recalling it now, that was most likely one of the funniest moments of his life. He didn't have much of those ever since he moved to Fuyuki.

The misunderstanding was cleared up quickly but Vita and Hayate used it as teasing material to get a reaction out of him every chance they got during their visit. He was first admonished by Nanoha for being so cold to Taiga but after some explanation about her immaturity, even she had to agree that the act was necessary to keep Taiga in check lest she went out of control.

The conversation was then centered around the Wolkenritter's sentence and the aftermath of the Book of Darkness incident. He was glad to hear that everything had gone well. There were no lasting damages made to Earth or those caught up in the incident and that the Wolkenritters were given a chance at redemption.

It wasn't exactly perfect but it was more than what people could ask for.

The happy mood however, was immediately turned around when Yuuno asked a question.

It was about Kiritsugu.

* * *

 _"Say, Shirou. Where's Kiritsugu? Did he leave on another trip again?"_

 _His body immediately went stiff at that question._

 _They didn't know? Well, that was possible since he never actually told them about it because he didn't want to bother them and they just came back from cleaning up after the incident._

 _"Um... That's... well... I mean..." Ugh. This was awkward. In hindsight, he should've said something about it at least._

 _"Shirou?" The concerned look Nanoha was giving made him decide to bite the bullet._

 _"Kiritsugu passed away. It was last month."_

 _Their reactions were as he expected. Mayhem ensued as he was bombarded with questions and was made to give more details. However, it was again Yuuno who made things worse._

 _"That can't be. There were still a few weeks maybe months until the predicted time." He mumbled to himself while filled with a mixture of disbelief and puzzlement._

 _"Huh? Scrya, you knew about this?" It was Vita who caught Yuuno mumbling to himself._

 _"Eh?" It was obvious from his reaction that he hadn't meant to say what he was thinking out loud._

 _"Spill it!"_

 _"Okay, okay! There's no need for threats!"_

 _And so, Yuuno told them everything he knew. Captain Lindy had contacted him a few days after the events at the Garden of Time. She wanted to consult him about any kind of diseases he might've encountered during his previous archeological digs. He readily shared everything he knew but seeing her disappointed reaction, he decided to inquire further on her motives._

 _After finding out it was about his friend's father's health, he immediately offered to go through the Infinity Library for more information. With Captain Lindy's help, he was able to go through all the necessary proceedings smoothly to access the library._

 _Ever since, he would go through thousands of books everyday for any obscure and deadly diseases. Although he found some diseases that displayed similar symptoms to Kiritsugu's, it was still not what they were looking for. As time was becoming short, he had even increased the amount of time he used to search through the library but was still unsuccessful. He was even doing an all-nighter just the previous day._

 _In fact, a huge_ _reason that he came to visit was to check up on another possible lead that he was able to find, so he needed to meet Kiritsugu only to find out that he was too late._

 _"What I don't understand is that there should still be some time left. Whatever it was, it shouldn't have progressed this fast. Especially since Kiritsugu's Magic Crest was... resisting..." Yuuno had inadvertently cut himself off but the damage was done._

 _There was a look of abject horror on Vita's face. "It was me. I... I was the one who..."_

 _She couldn't finish her sentence but everyone already knew what she wanted to say. She was the one who attacked Kiritsugu thinking that he was a mage to harvest his Linker Core. What they ended up draining was his Magic Crest instead._

 _She turned to look at him. Guilt marred her face. She looked like she wanted to say something but no words left her mouth. What could she say? She was sorry that she killed his father? That she didn't know about his health? That she never meant for this to happen? In the end they were all excuses. The truth was that they were prepared to discard all who were in their way for the sake of their mistress._

 _Vita wasn't the only one. All of the Wolkenritter were her accomplices so they also bear the same amount of responsibility and their mistress who they did all this for was equally crestfallen if not more so._

 _"Shirou-han... I-I'm so..." Words escaped Hayate. She didn't know what to do or what to say. Her knights had crossed a line none of them were aware of._

 _In response, he only smiled softly at them. "It's okay. It's alright."_

 _He wanted to convey that he had already forgiven them. All of them were already on the path of atonement so there's no reason to condemn them any further. Seeing their shocked expressions, he decided to explain a bit more._

 _"The old man. He was at peace. He didn't have any grudges or sink in despair. He already accepted everything and only left behind his dreams of being an ally of justice behind."_

 _All of them were filled with disbelief that he would forgive them so easily. It took time to calm down Vita who was on a rampage. She kept on telling him to condemn her. That it would be easier for her if he hated her._

 _He couldn't do it. How could he? She looked so heart broken that the only thing he could think about was how to console her. Never mind disliking her. He stroked her head as she cried and sobbed in his chest. She kept telling him to hate her while he kept saying that it was alright._

 _After a while, she finally calmed down._

 _"Do you still have any of the stuff your old man left behind? Please show them to me."_

 _Vita's request surprised him but he didn't have any reason to reject her especially if it helped her find some closure._

 _After giving her everything that once belonged to Kiritsugu, he vaguely guessed what it was that Vita was looking for as she immediately engrossed herself in one of his notebooks. The other Wolkenritters, Hayate, Yuuno and even Nanoha joined her in her search. He decided to just leave them like that and prepare some refreshments in case they needed it._

 _The next day, an announcement by Nanoha shook his world._

 _"Shirou! You have a sister!"_

 _"...Huh?"_

* * *

Illyasviel von Einzbern.

Finding out that Kiritsugu had a biological daughter was definitely surprising.

The information however, included details of her being held captive and the possibility of her being used for human modification experiments. This sent everyone including himself on a warpath. They couldn't just let this go.

However, he was again made to see the cold hard truth of reality. They couldn't let him go with them. He tried to argue with them at first but cold logic smoldered whatever burning desire he had to storm the Einzbern Castle.

He would just be a burden if he went with them and he couldn't risk being the weak link during such a mission to rescue Illyasviel. He had to stay behind.

It was with extreme reluctance but he gave in. Compared to his own desires, Illyasviel's safety was much more important. The last regret that Kiritsugu brought to his grave. If it meant clearing it, being left behind couldn't even be said as a price to be paid.

He understood this.

His mind understood it.

But his heart was in agony.

Once again, he was too weak to change anything. His friends were so dazzling as they flew in the wide open sky while he was chained to the ground unable to reach them. He wasn't even strong enough to reach out his hands to them.

He wanted to be stronger.

He wanted to be be able to stand side by side with them.

He wanted to be able to protect them.

To that end, he will never stop moving forward. He _will_ catch up to them. He didn't care how long it would take. The issue of the difference in their talent wasn't even a factor to him. Of course, he acknowledge that it played a part in how much of a gap that exists between him and his friends but he also remembered how Nanoha had trained herself to the point of exhaustion in order to be able to face-off against Fate. Talent wasn't everything. If he didn't have talent, then he will compensate with effort.

Fate who fought all alone so that she would be recognized by her mother.

The Wolkenritters that decided to bear the sins of villains for the sake of their precious mistress.

Hayate who couldn't even _walk_ and was always in the hospital, before all this had happened.

All of them had experienced unimaginable hardship to obtain the strength to protect others. Nothing could be gained without effort and determination. So he who was without talent will have try harder to catch up to them. That's all there was to it.

After deciding so, he didn't waste anymore time. Self-pity wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he continued what he had been doing all this time. Training.

After that, a few weeks passed by.

In that time, he was periodically informed of the progress of Illyasviel's rescue. Despite their pleas, Captain Lindy couldn't help them in rescuing Illyasviel without a just cause since it could strain any hope of relationship they would have with local magi in the future. However, she was able to use an excuse of 'observing how the local population used magic' to allow them to stake out the Einzbern Castle as long as any form of fighting was avoided.

After careful reconnaissance of the enemy stronghold, they were able to map out every inch of the place and the kind of defenses it had. Despite the corroding effects that magecraft had on their magic, they were still able to compensate with using 'advanced technology' to do the work for them. They didn't tell him what those 'advanced technology' was though.

It was also discovered that teleporting inside the Einzberns' Bounded Field did not trigger any of its detection spells let alone any defense mechanisms that were there.

They were even able to secure a means of communication with Illyasviel by teleporting a communication device directly inside her room.

She seemed to be distrustful of them at first but after some evidence in the form of Kiritsugu's diary and some of his other belongings, she finally opened up to them. What they found out was that Kiritsugu's worst fears had come true. The Einzberns had been experimenting to turn her into some kind of 'prana generator' in exchange for her life span and body growth.

This information was enough for Captain Lindy to request an operation to destroy the research and rescue Illyasviel to the higher ups of the TSAB. Such blatant disregard to human life couldn't be allowed to continue and the risk of some other criminal scientist in their sphere joining hands with the Einzberns was a definite threat but they couldn't sanction an 'official' operation on an unadministrated world. Thus, it was decided that an 'off the books' operation was needed and Nanoha's team who weren't official TSAB agents with the support of the Arthra would spearhead the operation.

He wasn't privy to what they had planned so all he could do was wait. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long. Less than half a day had passed since the operation commencement time (that he was told) when all of them had brought Illyasviel to his home.

* * *

 _He was restless._

 _Although he believed in everyone, he couldn't help but worry._

 _Were they safe?_

 _Did anyone get hurt?_

 _Was Illyasviel alright?_

 _He had so many worries that he couldn't even concentrate on his training properly, so he decided to just assume that everything would be fine and started to prepare for their arrival._

 _Basically, he decided to make a feast._

 _It was good timing since he recently had some interest in German dishes due to his adoptive sister's origin and procured some recipes that he thought was easy enough to make despite his specialty being Japanese dishes. Deciding on what to make, he confirmed that all the required ingredients were available and went to work._

 _"Now then, time to see if i can make some borscht soup."_

 _After a few hours of careful preparation, he was almost finished with the dish when everyone finally arrived by warping in his courtyard._

 _"We're back!" It was Vita who announced their arrival._

 _"Welcome back. Food's almost done, so take a seat." As he invited everyone to the dining table, he noticed one extra person who had accompanied them who wasn't here before._

 _A snow fairy._

 _That was his first impression of her._

 _She was around his age with long white hair and crimson eyes. She had an innocently delicate features while wearing a purple long sleeved shirt and white skirt. To put it bluntly, she was beautiful. He immediately knew who she was from the descriptions he heard from everyone and Kiritsugu's diary._

 _She was his adoptive sister._

 _The moment he saw her, he suddenly got a bit nervous._

 _Would they be able to get along? From what he heard from everyone's reports, she had a certain hatred for him because she thought that he was the reason that Kiritsugu had abandoned her. Although that misunderstanding was cleared, it seemed she still harbored some of that emotion towards him so it got him worried on what he would do when they finally meet._

 _First plan. Try to win her over through her stomach. That usually works... Usually._

 _Not wasting anymore time, he finished all the preparations for the borscht soup and brought it to the dining table._

 _"What's this? I've never seen it before." Nanoha looked at her portion of the soup curiously._

 _"I think this is borscht soup. It's a common cuisine in Eastern and Central Europe, especially around Russia." Shamal answered.  
_

 _Huh? Did he hear that right?_

 _"Eh? Wasn't it a German dish?" He tried to confirm again. Perhaps Shamal had made a mistake._

 _"No. I'm certain it originated in Ukraine and spread from there." There was no doubt in Shamal's reply._

 _"...Shirou, did you want to make German food for Illya-chan?" As usual, his oldest friend could read him like a book._

 _"...Yeah." He depressingly answered. To think he had made such a blunder. His first plan went straight down the drain. He felt worse as all of them were looking at him while smiling awkwardly._

 _"W-well that doesn't really matter right? I'm sure it tastes good regardless." Yuuno tried to cheer him up._

 _"Indeed, let's dig in." Signum hurriedly agreed._

 _Before they could eat however, a peculiar sound was heard around the table. It was giggling._

 _"Illya-chan?" Nanoha looked at Illyasviel._

 _"He mistook borscht as a German dish. How clumsy can he get?" As everyone looked at her holding her stomach and mouth, it was evident that she was trying not laugh out loud._

 _"It's not_ that _funny." He mock frowned at her. Seeing her charming laughter, he couldn't actually get mad. He was quite embarrassed though._

 _Illyasviel's laugh had evaporated the previous awkward atmosphere and pretty soon, everyone was laughing at him too. He became more embarrassed but he endured it. This was much better than the previous atmosphere. Like that, everyone ate the borscht that he prepared. Despite him mistaking it as a German dish, the taste was still very good and everyone agreed on that part._

 _The feast went on for a few hours until late evening. That was when Illyasviel made her move.  
_

 _"I'd like to visit Kiritsugu's grave."_

 _No one was surprised from her request since it was expected so they swiftly granted her wish and everyone escorted her to the graveyard behind the Ryuudou Temple. Once they arrived however, everyone decided to keep their distance as they all acknowledged that this was a private matter._

 _"Accompany me." That order was directed at him._

 _"...Alright." He didn't see any reason to deny her._

 _As they arrived in front of Kiritsugu's grave, they stood there silently. Neither of them talked. He just silently looked at the grave and Illyasviel's back. Right now wasn't the time for small talk._

 _Suddenly, tears started falling down her cheeks which she wiped away with her hands._

 _"I hated you." This wasn't directed at Kiritsugu but to him._

 _"...I know."_

 _"I was envious because you took Kiritsugu away from me."_

 _"Yeah."_

 _Her complaints went on and on. He accepted all of them. While he was happy with his life at Uminari with Kiritsugu, she was being 'adjusted' by the Einzberns and was slowly losing her life. She was treated as a tool by everyone around her while he was having fun with his friends. Life was unfair to her who had lost her parents who were the only ones that loved her. She was constantly told that she was abandoned. Even if she'd found out that it was a lie by the patriarch of the Einzbern family, those days when she spent it filled with hatred and envy wouldn't just simply go away._

 _She had let it all out. But never once did she raised her voice. She revealed all her inner darkness with a cold and emotionless voice._

 _"I'm going to Mid-Childa. I'm not coming back."_

 _"I see. I understand."_

 _He wasn't surprised with her decision. Earth had too many painful memories for her and the Einzberns would be looking for her now that she's no longer within their grasp. Not only that, they already knew that Mid-Childa's advanced medical knowledge could reverse whatever the Einzberns had done to her since they had also seized the research notes pertaining to the creation of a homunculus that they could find during the raid on the Einzbern castle._

 _With all that, why would she decide to stay?_

 _Although he wanted to know her better now that they have finally met, he didn't want to chain her down, so he didn't oppose her decision._

 _After that, they all went back to the Emiya residence and prepared for the transfer back to the Arthra._

 _"Goodbye, Shirou." She said a simple farewell while smiling politely as if she was talking to a stranger._

 _"Take care, Illyasviel." There was no promise of seeing each other again._ _ _They both somehow understood it. They will never meet again._ Just after he finished saying that, all of them disappeared from his courtyard._

 _That was the first and last meeting between him and his adoptive sister. To the end, he was never given the chance to call her 'onee-san'._

* * *

Life went back to normal.

Due to their increasing workload with the TSAB, his friends never had much time to visit him. That didn't mean he was lonely though. Taiga kept coming to mooch off of him as usual and he even made a new friend at school who was younger than him by a grade. Nanoha style.

* * *

 _For the last few weeks he had been feeling that he was being watched at school. It wasn't constant and he usually felt it during the morning, recess and evening when a lot of people were gathered together. Fortunately, he didn't sense any hostility from it so it didn't put him on guard so much but he wasn't sure why he was being watched.  
_

 _It all started when he was persistently trying to do a high jump over a bar that was left behind by one of the seniors who forgot to clean it up. It was obvious that the bar was too high for him but he still tried to jump over it again and again and again like an idiot. He knew it was foolish but he just couldn't help himself. The desire to overcome such a high hurdle had overcame him._

 _During all that time, he could feel two sets of eyes that were watching him. One came from the school entrance and another from the school itself. In the beginning, the one that came from the school had some small ill will while the other one was neutral but in time both seemed to be cheering him on. He didn't mind them and continued with his jumps. Finally, in the end he was able to almost jump over the bar. It was such a close thing that if he had just jumped a few millimeters higher, he would've definitely made it. He would've continued but the day was getting late so he decided against it. By this time, he no longer felt those two stares anymore._

 _Ever since however, he would feel one of the stares from that time directed at him everytime he was at school._

 _It took a while to identify who it was but he was finally able to pinpoint it to one person. It was a girl who was one grade lower than him._

 _Her name was Matou Sakura._

 _She was a timid and quiet girl with purple hair and a cute face. However, he was always overcome with a feeling of irritation when he thought of her. He didn't hate or dislike her. Not at all. Despite her quiet nature, he could tell that she was a good kid. She didn't bother anyone or cause any kind of trouble. No, what irritated him was her empty expression. It was like she had given up on life itself. It was even worse than the resigned expression that Kiritsugu used to have._

 _That made him angry. Someone as young as her shouldn't be giving up on life like that. It was times like this that he understood how Nanoha had felt when she forced him to become her friend._

 _If that was the case, he had the same solution for it. Time to make a friend._

* * *

The next day after he decided that, he ambushed Sakura at the school entrance and said to her the same thing that Nanoha did at the school rooftop those few years ago. Unfortunately, due to his eagerness he didn't really think things through when he announced his intention in the middle of a crowd.

His forceful method of befriending Sakura was somehow mistaken as a love confession by his schoolmates that were entering the school.

This caused a bit of an uproar but in the end he was able to properly convey his desire to be her friend. Sakura was completely confused at first but in the end, she accepted his demand. It took some encouragement and cajoling on his part but as the days became weeks and weeks became months, she slowly opened up to him bit by bit. It took him a full quarter of a year for him to see her smile. It was such a small one that he hesitated to even call it a smile but it was a start.

The longer he spent time with her, the more he could see the light of life entering her eyes. Her expression became more vibrant as she started to find things that she enjoyed doing. Funnily enough, both of them derive the same kind of enjoyment when doing house chores and cooking.

Their relationship however, had made him beat someone up a few times and everytime it was the same person.

Matou Shinji. Sakura's older brother who was also his classmate.

Although he didn't understand why, Shinji would always mistreat and abuse Sakura in different ways. Sometimes he would be rough with her while other times he would scold her for no reason. It was when Shinji had hit Sakura that he couldn't restrain himself anymore and beat up the sorry excuse of a brother.

The scene happened with a lot of witnesses so he and Shinji got in trouble with the school but their reputation were polar opposites of each other ever since. His skyrocketed while Shinji's plummeted. The same thing would happen again once in a while as Shinji became more irritable each day. It got so bad that once they reached middle school, Shinji had tried to rape Sakura while they were in school.

It was finally decided for Shinji to be expelled and he was to be put on house arrest indefinitely. The issue of Shinji and Sakura staying in the same house was somehow glossed over while Sakura assured him that she would be alright at home. Despite the doubts he had, he could only believe in Sakura's earnest pleas.

Fortunately, there weren't anymore cases where she was being abused by Shinji. According to Sakura, Shinji was being strictly disciplined by their grandfather who was their guardian.

That didn't stop him from discreetly checking if there were visible wounds on Sakura every single day though.

Like that, the years went by rather peacefully.

At the same time he entered high school, Shinji was also finally allowed to attend but with strict conditions. At the slightest indication of trouble, the school wouldn't hesitate to expel him again.

He knew that Shinji's personality hadn't changed one bit since the last time they met. The only difference was that Shinji was forced to restrain himself from any outward and obvious actions for fear of the consequences. It was easy to guess since Shinji would always glare at him with eyes of utter hatred. Obviously, Shinji was blaming him for the current treatment he was getting from everyone despite it being his own fault.

There were a few times when it seemed that Shinji was going to try something but since _everyone_ in the school was aware of him and was monitoring him, Shinji didn't seem to be able to put them into action. Even the school delinquents didn't associate themselves with him.

In these conditions, it was only a matter of time before Shinji couldn't take it anymore and explode.

That's what he thought at least.

Everytime he thought that Shinji was about to lose his temper, the next day, Shinji would come to school with a knowing evil smirk and looking very satisfied. In these times he would suspect that something had happened to Sakura but seeing her usual self without any visible bodily injury, he couldn't really accuse Shinji of anything, as there was no evidence.

If only he knew what the bastard was doing to Sakura. There would be no forgiveness in the world for him.

 _"Thank you for everything, Senpai. Goodbye."_

The last words of one of the most precious people in his life before she tried to commit suicide. Although he didn't want to admit it, death would've been a salvation for Sakura compared to what happened to her after that.

What had started it all that had led to her kouhai's tragedy was what Kiritsugu had tried to prevent from happening again by interfering with the land's leylines.

The event that had robbed him of his earlier memories and made him an orphan.

A ritual that summons heroes from legends long past and forces magi that participate to kill each other.

The Fifith Holy Grail War.

He knew of the Holy Grail War from Kiritsugu's journal but he had stumbled upon the ritual by complete accident. After all, he never expected the event to ever happen again after the last one ten years ago. So it was completely normal for him to start patrolling the streets of Fuyuki at night looking for a serial killer that was reported in the news without expecting any supernatural happenings.

He should've known better but the half a decade he spent in peace had dulled his judgement since his daily training focuses on his physical and magical abilities and doesn't include any combat experience.

Which was why he ended up having his spleen shattered even after Reinforcing his body when trying to save Homurahara's school idol, Tohsaka Rin.

* * *

 _On the third night of his patrol, he had stumbled upon a battle at the Fuyuki Central Park. There were several women in strange maid like clothing (which he would later find out to be Einzbern homunculi) who were attacking Rin. They wielded all kinds of weapons like broadswords, giant axes, spears and even morning stars. Seeing such a spectacle, he had tried to save his schoolmate and although he was successful in doing so, he himself almost died from the ordeal. Not to mention that the only thing he managed to do was to buy some time for Rin's Servant, Archer, to arrive and slaughter the attackers._

 _If it wasn't because Rin felt indebted to him enough to heal him, his soul would already be recycled by Akasha to be reborn anew by then._

 _After some lengthy negotiations with Rin that took all night, he managed to form an alliance with her. In exchange for helping her end the War since the truth about the ritual was known, Rin would help him stop anymore innocent people from becoming the War's casualty. Rin would also be given full access to Kiritsugu's notes and journals pertaining to the Emiya magecraft and all the information he had on the Holy Grail Wars._

 _As he wasn't exactly a proper magus, he didn't really mind though Rin was flabbergasted at first with how easy for him to agree with her conditions which would make a normal magus outright reject her. Apparently, she was even prepared to brainwash him with logical reasoning like the importance of their survival and such._

 _That whole night had effectively crushed the image he had of Rin being a perfect model student._

 _Still, he was glad to have her on his side. After that, Rin had helped him with his Servant summoning when they discovered that he was a Master. Initially, Rin had suggested to hide the fact about the War being a bogus hope for Servants to have their wish granted from his would be Servant so that they could easily get their cooperation but he strongly objected._

 _He refused to deceive someone who was going to be his partner. Rin only sighed at his naivety but in the end she relented. Even she didn't want to resort to such a thing despite being the one that suggested it. Thus, they decided to hope for the best that his summoned Servant would be willing to help them regardless of the promised prize's absence._

 _Using Avalon as the catalyst, the result of the summoning was that he successfully became the Master of Saber, The Once and Future King of Britain, Arturia Pendragon._

 _Kiritsugu's diaries and journals didn't have much detail on the King of Knight's character but what Kiritsugu did mention was enough for him to know that Saber valued honor and dignity. Thus, he didn't mince his words or made excuses and honestly and sincerely asked for her help the moment she appeared in front of him._

 _It proved effective as she was willing to hear him out._

 _In the end, although Saber despaired, she was also enraged after finding out the truth of the Heaven's Feel ritual. She didn't need much convincing and was all too willing to help them end the War due to her own sense of justice._

 _Afterwards, they discussed about the viability of getting the cooperation of other Masters as well. The chances were slim but they all agreed to at least give it a try rather than marking them as enemies from the very beginning._

 _He went home just before dawn with Saber in tow. Explaining Saber's presence was quite simple as he said she was a friend from Uminari. Thanks to that, Taiga didn't bother Saber more than necessary as she recalled what happened the last time she pestered his friends. Sakura just accepted Saber without much fuss. What he didn't expect was Rin moving into his home later that day. He couldn't find any reason to refuse her since it was strategically sound to have his allies nearby during such a dangerous period._

 _This was especially true since he couldn't get in touch with Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and her knights or any of his friends in the TSAB since they seem to be on another important mission at the moment though he didn't know any of the details. He hadn't told Rin about them yet though. He wasn't exactly sure what her reaction would be if she found out that he was friends with mages that could be described as inter-dimensional police. He decided that he would tell Rin once he's able to contact them. Better to have reinforcements in these situations._

* * *

In the end, he was never able to get in touch with Nanoha and the rest of his friends in the TSAB.

The Fifth Holy Grail War had lasted for roughly only two weeks but he could honestly say that it was the most gruesome two weeks of his life.

Within just a few days after his alliance with Rin, the school was turned into a hellhole when Shinji, who became Rider's Master, had decided to sacrifice the whole school for his sick pleasure. Shinji had made him watch as he ordered Rider to activate her Noble Phantasm, Bloodfort Andromeda. He had laughed like a maniac as he watched people who had scorned him fell one by one.

All because Shinji wanted to mock his dream to become a hero which was known to almost everyone in the school. Shinji didn't even care about the Holy Grail being corrupted and just wanted revenge on him. He had even found out that Shinji was the serial killer he was initially been looking for who was reported in the news.

By the time Archer was able to defeat Rider, almost half the people in the school had fallen into a coma. Saber and Rin wasn't able to join the fray as well because the Einzberns had also decided to obstruct them at the same exact same day. Saber was forced to fight against the Servant Berserker, Mordred, The Knight of Treachery, during the whole ordeal while Rin had to fend for herself as she was again targeted by the Einzbern's homonculi.

He was forced into a battle to the death with Shinji, who somehow gained control over deadly insects while he himself looked like he was on death's door, and won as he was finally able to decapitate Shinji around the same time Archer had defeated Rider.

With Shinji and Rider gone, the Einzberns had decided to withdraw. They were busy during the rest of the day as it was filled with rescue operations as he, Rin, Saber and Archer helped as many people as they could after contacting the the hospitals and clinics around Fuyuki.

A silver lining from the event was that they had somehow gained a potential ally who had been watching everything that happened from the sidelines.

Servant Caster, Medea, The Witch of Betrayal.

She had been watching when he had revealed to Shinji the true nature of the Holy Grail which was what prompted her to decide to ally with them for the duration of the War. Although both Rin and himself was reluctant to join forces with Caster who was the perpetrator for the strings of comas reported as gas leaks in the city, they relented seeing that Caster held back from outright killing or causing any permanent damage to her victims.

Thus, they managed to form a (shaky) alliance with Caster and her Master, Kuzuki Souichirou, their school teacher.

With his allies increasing, he had started to think that the War may finally be ended soon without anymore innocent sacrifices.

He was too naive.

* * *

 _The next day after forming an alliance with Caster, something was attacking the residents of Fuyuki. Caster had reported to them, that it was some kind of shadow creature but she could not identify what it was. Although they had patrolled the city in search of the creature, they were unable to locate it and it always eluded them by escaping after draining the life of its victims moments before their arrival. This went on for a couple of days as the number of victims increased every night._

 _And then, Caster's base, which was situated in the Ryuudou Temple on Mount Enzo, was attacked. He, Rin, Saber and Archer had rushed to the scene only to find Assassin, the guardian of the temple gate that Caster had managed to summon, to be missing while the temple itself was devastated with Berserker waiting for them in the temple courtyard._

 _However, although it was still Mordred, she was no longer the Berserker they fought before._

 _Something had corrupted her._

 _It was quite obvious with how her armor had become darker with a more brutal design as thorn-like protrusions and red lines filled her armor and gave an ominous feeling to those who see it. Not only that, the madness which was already present before was much more intense._

 _As Saber once again battled with her progeny, he, Rin and Archer entered the temple to look for Caster but they were ambushed by another Servant. It was Assassin but not the one Caster had summoned. A different Assassin was somehow summoned into the War. Deciding to leave Archer to deal with Assassin, he and Rin resumed their search for Caster._

 _However, they were too late. By the time they found Caster and Suzuki, there was nothing they could do. Suzuki was already dead while Caster was fatally wounded and was fading away. Her last words were for them to be careful of the shadow creature that was under the control of Matou Zouken._

 _They didn't even have time to mourn for their fallen ally as Rin's Command Seals disappeared at that moment._

 _"This... this can't be... Archer shouldn't have..." He could clearly see that Rin was distraught. He couldn't blame her, he was as well. Archer might not have been very strong but he was quite resourceful and possessed quite a few powerful Noble Phantasms so it was unthinkable for him to have lost to Assassin that easily._

 _"Damn it! What happened to my Archer!?"_

 _"W-Wait! Tohsaka!" Before he could stop her, Rin had already started to sprint. Her destination was obviously the place where they had last seen the Servant._

 _Since there was no stopping her, he decided to just go with her while preparing to summon Saber at the smallest hint of danger. At the scene, there were various subtle battle marks. It was obvious that the Servants had a contest of skills instead of strength. Following those marks, they were lead to a lake located behind the temple._

 _And there, waiting for them was the Shadow._

 _Both of them knew immediately that it was dangerous. Something about it made all the hairs on their body stand on end. And that very feeling was also warning him against summoning Saber carelessly. He would first have to find a suitable opening before using his Command Seal or his Servant would fall. He didn't know why he knew that. He just did._

 _"Emiya-kun, don't summon Saber just yet." And from the looks of it, Rin was in agreement with him. "Get ready. I'll try to distract it and keep its attention on me. Summon Saber once you find an opening." Rin pulled out some of her gems as she summarized her plans._

 _"Got it. Careful though. We don't know what happened to Assassin."_

 _"I know."_

 _Once they confirmed their plans, they were going to separate to make it harder for the Shadow to keep track of the both of them at the same time. Before they could act however-_

 _"GAE BOLG!"_

 _-something else had attacked the Shadow in a powerful explosion instead. Whatever it was, the shockwave from the explosion alone was strong enough to blow both of them back a few meters although its center was tens of meters away from where they were standing._

 _"Tch. It got away."_

 _As he fell on his back, on the roof of temple where they were blown back to, he could see a man wielding a spear. And his attention was now on them.  
_

* * *

As expected, the one who had saved them was the War's final Servant, Lancer.

Since he had already revealed his Noble Phantasm, he didn't bother hiding his identity of being Cu Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster. His motive for saving them was quite straight forward.

He was ordered by his Master to deal with the ones responsible for interfering with the War and since they were in the same situation, Lancer decided that working with them was the most efficient way and it seems that his Master agreed as well.

After a brief negotiation (with Rin handling almost all of the talking), in the end they didn't ally with Lancer and his Master but a truce was made so that they wouldn't have to worry about a three way fight.

He and Saber was puzzled why Rin decided not to ally with Lancer and his Master but they received their answer once they got home. Rin suspected that Lancer's Master was Kotomine Kirei. It was something she deduced when Lancer let slip that his Master was interested in the War itself continuing instead of winning the Grail.

There was no way they could trust a man who killed his own mentor in the last War, according to Kiritsugu's records of the event. Not to mention that said mentor was Rin's father.

Even with all her hatred for Kirei being apparent, Rin still decided to put aside her feelings to concentrate on a more pressing matter. Namely, the Shadow and Matou Zouken who was controlling it.

After much deliberation, all of them had unanimously agreed to raid the Matou manor once they were fully rested and prepared accordingly. Even so, all of them had rushed as fast as possible to make those necessary preparations. Only one thing occupied their minds.

Was Sakura alright?

Ever since the War started and Shinji's involvement was known, he had convinced Sakura to stay with them in case she was caught up in its dangers. She had obediently complied with his request ever since.

Until now.

Sakura's visage could no longer be seen in the Emiya estate. Although there were no signs of struggle, they couldn't optimistically conclude that she was alright. Especially since she suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night after their return from the temple. Thus, they didn't take their time when arranging the preemptive assault.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst. And there was nothing they could've done to prevent it at that point.

* * *

 _It was eerie how they were able to breach the manor's defenses so easily. In fact, there weren't any defenses erected at all. Rather than relieved, all three of them instead felt like they were being drawn to a trap. Which was why their tension never decreased as they combed through the place. Eventually, they found an entrance that led to the basement._

 _Deducing that it would lead to Zouken's workshop, they increased their vigilance. If a trap was waiting for them in that manor, it would be there._

 _However, what met them at the bottom of the stairs wasn't any of the trappings of Zouken that they were expecting. Instead, they met a young girl. It took them a moment for them to realize that it was Sakura. It wasn't really their fault because the Sakura who was etched in their mind was a timid but kind girl with beautiful violet hair and eyes._

 _The person in front of them however, had streaks of white hair and her eyes were red while the atmosphere she gave was more akin to the one the Shadow gave off with her wearing some kind of black dress with similar red lines they once saw on Mordred's armor._

 _The person in front of them and the one they once knew could be said as polar opposites of each other but there was no doubt that they were the same person._

 _"Sakura? Is...is that...you?" Rin hesitated in calling out to her._

 _"Yes, it's me Rin-se... no... nee-san."_

 _That statement actually took him by complete surprise. Rin and Sakura were sisters? But... that... they... nevermind. Compared to some of the revelations during his life like Fate being a clone of Alicia or Hayate being the mistress of the Book of Darkness or even the fact that_ he _had a sister even if they weren't biologically related, this one was actually quite tame even if a bit surprising. Also, there was something more important they needed to know._

 _"Sakura, are you alright? What happened to you?" Saber voiced the question that was in all their minds._

 _"I'm fine, Saber. For now." Sakura smiled sadly at them. Her current appearance that contrasted her normal one gave them all a very ominous feeling. After hesitating for a moment, she continued. "I...I decided to tap into the connection I had with the Holy Grail. This time, by my own will."  
_

 _"What? Sakura, what do you mean?"_

 _She looked at them with a sad smile. "I guess I should start from the beginning."_

 _And so, she gave a brief explanation of the chain of events that started even before the 4th Grail War._

 _How she was given away by her parents to be taken in by Zouken._

 _How Zouken had thrown her into the pit with his Crest Worms._

 _How her only ally had died trying to save her in the 4th Grail War._

 _How she needed to regularly fulfill her lust due to the Crest Worm's influence that was imbedded in her._

 _The more he listened, the more disgusted he felt. Most of all at himself._

 _Why?_

 _Why didn't he notice the suffering that Sakura had went through?_

 _The signs were there if he had been bothered to look for it._

 _She hadn't even hit puberty before she lost her innocence. All this time, she had been defiled time and time again all while smiling gently at his side. Not once had she ever openly showed her despair._

 _Even now, as she recounted her dark past, never once had she ever threw at him a look of blame._

 _All that she sent him was a look of gratitude._

 _"Please don't look like that, Senpai. The time that I spent with you were the happiest moments of my life." She had the same smile that she always showed him whenever they were together._

 _He used to think that it made her look so gentle._

 _He used to think that it made her look so calm._

 _He used to think that it made her look so radiant._

 _He used to think that it made her look so beautiful._

 _But now, the only thing he could see was a mask that hid all the darkness inside her._

 _What kind of fortitude would she need to be able to bear all that despair without breaking all these years?_

 _The more he thought about it, the more that he hated himself._

 _A hero of justice?_

 _What a joke._

 _A person who was very close to him was living such a horrible life right in front of him and all he did was ramble on and on about his dreams and ideals as a hero. Worst of all, that person had never scorned him for it. Instead, she had even admired him._

 _This was irony at its worst._

 _However, there's still a chance._

 _She's still here, right in front of him. If he could just extend his hands this time, she could still attain the happiness that she rightly deserved._

 _That was what he wanted to think._

 _That was what he wanted to believe._

 _Reality was never that welcoming._

 _"Ugh. It seems... I'm at my limit." Sakura's figure was gradually being consumed by the evil that was inside the Grail. Even as he watched, her hair was becoming more ashen, her dress was becoming darker and the aura around her more sinister._

 _"Sakura! Cut your connection to the Grail!" Rin's voice clearly showed that she was panicking. The previous look of horror as she listened to her sister's suffering was immediately replaced by urgency but the tears in her eyes still wouldn't disappear._

 _"Thank you, nee-san. I hadn't noticed at first but you've always been watching over me haven't you? Please, take care of yourself. Saber, please protect Senpai. He can be so clumsy at times." Instead of heeding Rin's advice, Sakura only started saying words as if this was her last moments while materializing a dagger that was made from her powers._

 _Finally, she looked at him with a smile that said she was at peace,_

 _"Thank you for everything, Senpai. Goodbye."_

 _and plunged the dagger in her hands into her heart._


End file.
